Harry Potter and the Next Generation: Year One
Chapter 10: The Holidays
The Christmas break was finally here and the castle's residents couldn't have been more excited. The shining armor in the corridors were decorated with Santa Claus hats and coats, while mistletoe and Christmas wreaths hung on the walls and doors.
The Great Hall looked spectacular. Christmas trees of all colors, pink and green and silver with even gold, all stood side by side along the walls before the tallest tree loomed in the middle. It was nearly twenty feet with enchanted orbs decorated on the branches. The star at the top was crystal with a transparent Hogwarts crest in the middle. It had been added to the school by the board of governors at least five years previous.
The last week before the break was difficult for Scorpius. He had grown so used to Hogwarts and was absolutely terrified of returning home to his father. Neither had exchanged letters of any sort and Scorp could feel the tension rising as the last day before break drew closer and closer.
Professor Moses walked around at lunch one day, taking the names of those who would be staying for the holidays. Many signed up, but most of the student body would be going home for Christmas. Scorp could see the head table was very cheerful about this. They were all drinking eggnog and chortling merrily, Professor Greystash laughing so hard that he spilled his drink in his growing brown beard.
Albus looked at Scorp as Moses walked away, a questioning look on his face.
"So you are going back home then, are you?" Albus inquired.
"Yes," Scorpius muttered in response. "It's complete rubbish; I just can't face my father after that moment in Hogsmeade!"
"But you two should have made up by now," Nick alleged. "He's your dad. Why would he shut you out just because you're in Gryffindor?"
"Well, he was a death eater, wasn't he?" Albus retorted, looking slightly angry.
Scorpius frowned, looking at Albus who went back to his soup.
Scorpius may have had a father with a bad past and a currently unsteady and unreasonable temper, but hadn't he proved himself all these years after the war? All that time Draco Malfoy had worked as an auror, a partner to Harry Potter himself, before becoming an adviser to Jacob Kragoff, the Minister of Magic? All of that and he was still thought of as a traitor?
Perhaps, Scorpius thought sadly, people will never find it in their hearts to forgive.
More than anything, Scorp wanted to spend Christmas with the Potters. They would be having the entire family over, Weasleys as well as Teddy Lupin, and Scorp did not want to have to spend two weeks at home with his father. They lived in a large, welcoming house and Scorpius had a beautiful and loving mother, but he wanted to be with his friends. And he wanted to show the whole Potter/Weasley clan that just because he resembled his father's looks almost exactly, that it didn't mean he was the same person. At least they should understand that above other people.
When the day of departure at last arrived, Scorpius found himself more nervous than he'd felt upon first arriving at the school. He packed his bags swiftly and then went to join Albus, Rose, Nick and the others down in the entrance hall.
"Looking forward to the holiday?" Rose asked Scorp.
He smiled unenthusiastically and replied with a short "Yeah" before the group of leaving students began to make their way to the carriages.
Scorp saw Hagrid waving at them from his hut.
"Have a good break, you lot!" he shouted as students smiled and waved back.
When they reached the gates, they all began to clamber into carriages, trying to get seats next to friends. Scorpius managed to get into a seat with Albus and the others. Snowflakes began to slowly descend on them as they rode into Hogsmeade. Everybody kept trying to catch flakes in their hands or tongues. Scorp smiled and copied Albus and Nick who were doing both.
They all hugged themselves for more warmth as they made their way towards the train. James, Jacob, and Martin all helped them lift their trunks on board before going to find their group of friends.
"Let's get a compartment before they all fill up," Rose suggested.
The others nodded and they went in search of one, hoping they wouldn't end up sitting in the table filled car that had no compartments at all. Plenty of students sat in there, it made eating easier, but it wasn't as comfortable.
They managed to find one at the end of their car with no other students inside. So Albus, Scorpius, Rose, Nick, Kyle, Sarah, and Burk all managed to get fit their luggage inside and find seats.
As the train sped through the snowy fields, cold wind freezing their windows, they all talked animatedly about their plans for the holidays.
"Kyle's family and mine are getting together again for a party," Burk explained. "They do this every year."
"Except I got invited this year," Sarah pointed out.
"Yeah, so that's our plan," Kyle said. "What about you guys?"
"Going over to Al's for Christmas day," Rose answered. "The whole family's coming over. It's going to be a lot of fun."
"What about you, Scorp?" Albus inquired. "Do you have any family coming over for the holidays?"
Scorpius shook his head.
"Neither of my parents had any siblings," he said. "Nor do I, anyway. So, it's just going to be me and my parents for Christmas."
Albus raised an eyebrow in thought before asking
"Well, why don't you just come over to my house for Christmas?"
Scorpius smiled for a moment before shaking his head in disappointment.
"My father would never go for it," he replied. "To him, any kind of holiday enjoyment is completely out of the question."
"Maybe he just needs to be visited by three spirits," Nick suggested.
The rest of them laughed for a minute before moving on to other conversation. Outside, a small snow storm began, obscuring their vision out the window.
As the train continued on, the compartment was paid a visit from James and his group of friends who then left and were followed by Victoire with Jacob and Martin who cracked some jokes for gratification before leaving. After a few hours, Sarah and one of her dark haired friends fell asleep as Burk and Kyle scribbled notes in journals.
Rose soon had her nose in a book while Nick and Albus quietly discussed Quidditch. Scorpius stood and left to use the lavatory in an attempt to stretch his legs a bit.
Walking through the cars of the train, he finally reached a small loo that he walked inside. After relieving himself, he washed his hands and walked back out, making way for the food trolley. As he turned a corner, he stopped when he heard two very familiar voices.
Quickly ducking behind a small trolley, Scorpius watched as two Slytherins walked in. Nobody else was near them and they both continued their conversation, stopping in their tracks.
"The Gryffindors are planning something, I know it!" whispered a troubled Anthony Wisecrock, a short Slytherin boy with blonde hair. "I just know it has to do with the Potters, the Weasleys, that Fleming Mudblood, and the blood traitor Malfoy."
Scorp winced slightly. He had heard the name blood traitor used on him many times by Slytherins, but never had it sounded so casual as if it was just what he was known as.
"I'm not surprised," muttered Trevor Skullfield, who was standing right next to Scorp's hiding place. "That Scorpius Malfoy has been a disappointment ever since he arrived here. Well, if the Gryffindor's are planning something, then we just need to make a counterplan. Easy enough. We are smarter, aren't we?"
Then explain why your Dark Lord lost the war, Scorpius thought, angrily.
The two boys exited, probably heading back to their compartment. Scorpius stood, thinking about what he had heard.
Who could've told them that the Gryffindors were planning something? Scorpius decided to speak to Jacob as quickly as he could. Diving past a tall Hufflepuff girl who had just walked in, Scorpius darted to his sixth year friend's compartment.
…
James was bored. The talk amongst his friends had thinned in interesting gossip and he was no longer in the mood to just sit around.
Excusing himself, James walked out of the compartment and began walking down the corridors, aimlessly as he tried to find something more interesting to do. After about two minutes, he found something. A loud muffling was coming from the lavatory next to him and he knocked on the door.
"Hello?" he said.
The muffled voice continued again, trying to speak what sounded like "Help".
James tried the handle but found the door was locked from the inside. Pulling out his wand, he cast a quick and easy unlocking charm Aunt Hermione had mentioned once before he even came to school. The door opened and James walked in, closing it behind him. He nearly gasped.
Little Scorpius was on the floor, his ankles and wrists bound and a tightly tied cloth gagging him.
"Oh, my God," James exclaimed, making the bounds untie with his wand.
He pulled out the cloth in Scorp's mouth to see his face tear stained. This wasn't good. Scorpius had not cried in a while. Things had been getting so good.
"What happened?" James asked him. "Was it some Slytherins?"
Scorp looked at him and then nodded.
"Who?" he questioned.
Scorpius gulped for a moment before muttering
"I…I d-didn't kn-know t-them," he stammered. "T-two se-seventh y-years, I think."
"What'd they do?"
Scorpius whipped his face, looking beyond embarrassed.
"Tied me up, and then started punching me a lot," he explained, breathing shakily.
"And no one heard you?" asked James.
Scorpius shook his head.
"They p-put some kind of silencing charm on me. It must have worn off."
"Well, here, let's get you back to your compar-," James began.
"No!" Scorp snapped, looking scared. "I don't want them to see me like this. I'm a fucking mess."
James smiled a little when he heard the young boy swear.
"Fine," he said. "I won't tell anyone. I promise."
He sat next to Scorp, pointing his wand at the door and locking it.
"Muffliato," he whispered. "There. A little bit of quiet for anyone outside."
Scorp smiled in appreciation before looking at his knees as he whipped his reddened face again.
James put a brotherly arm around the boy's shoulders, trying to calm him.
"You know," James started. "I can prank those guys fasted then you can say Quidditch."
Scorp laughed quietly, making James smile again. Scorpius was different than the other first years. He was smaller than quite a few of them, and seemed to strike some people as younger. When Jacob or Martin or even James and their friends made him laugh, they felt warm to see him be so happy. He was so different from his father. While that man had been the boy who wanted to rule the school with a prejudice attitude, Scorpius was an innocent little kid who felt like everybody's younger brother. Albus and Rose took care of him and so did the rest who knew him well. Though he wasn't as good at standing up for himself alone, with his friends, he was stronger hearted than most of them.
And as the train continued on, James made more jokes for Scorp's benefit, using some he had heard from Uncle George. Scorp no longer looked as though he had been crying or hurt and the two thought it safe to return to the compartments.
James walked back to Scorp's with him, keeping a protective arm around him as he glared at a couple of tall Slytherin boys who looked like Scorp's description.
When they entered the compartment, they found that only Rose and Sarah were even awake.
"Tired, are they?" Scorpius inquired, quietly.
"No, just lazy," Rose replied, writing in a notebook as Sarah poked her friend's face with boredom.
James patted Scorpius on the back and turned to leave.
"Um, James-," Scorp began.
James stopped and looked at him.
"Yeah, buddy?" he said.
"Um, thank you," he said, smiling slightly.
James nodded, grinning.
"You're welcome, Scorp," he responded. Then, he left the compartment.
There was a pause while Rose starred at Scorpius.
"What?" he said.
"Thank-you for what, exactly?" she queried.
"Nothing, he just did something nice for me when I was feeling a little down, nothing big," Scorp replied.
"James never does something nice for the younger kids," Rose explained. "Not even Albus even though they're brothers."
"Never?"
"Never," Albus muttered, sleepily with his eyes still closed.
Scorpius rolled his eyes.
"Good morning, Al," he greeted.
Albus sat up, his eyes opening up to slits.
"Are we there yet?" he questioned.
"Nope, not yet," Sarah told, reading the Prophet.
"Well, I'm gonna go pay a visit the snack trolley," he announced as Kyle stirred, standing up to leave.
"Oh, and watch out for angry Slytherins," Scorpius called to Albus as he stepped out of the door.
Al leaned back in to look at him.
"Sorry?" he said.
"Just a word to the wise," Scorpius finished.
Albus shrugged and left.
…
Finally, after a long day's travel, the Hogwarts express arrived in platform nine and three quarters. The students all grabbed their luggage and began to exit the train, looking around for their excited families. Scorpius said good-bye to his friends before starting toward the woman he had spotted.
A black haired lady with a large smile waved at him as he saw her. Scorpius ran up to his beautiful mother before throwing his arms around her in an exuberant hug. She returned it happily before asking
"And how's term been?"
"Fine," Scorp told her, obviously not the entire truth.
Before they could leave, however, Albus called out to Scorpius.
"Hey, Scorp!" he shouted, waving his hand for Scorpius to come over.
Mrs. Malfoy smiled and looked down at her son.
"Scorp?" she repeated. "What a wonderful nick-name. I wonder why I never thought of that."
The young Malfoy rushed back to his friend to hug him quickly.
"So, will you ask them?" Albus asked, quietly.
"Of course," Scorp replied. "My mother's your mum's friend. Why should she say no?"
"But your dad might," Albus reminded.
Scorpius shook that off.
"Well, he worked with your dad and uncle for years. Why should he say no?" he questioned.
Just then, a tall woman with long, slightly bushy red hair appeared behind Albus.
"Oh, you must be Scorpius," Mrs. Potter observed, shaking Scorp's hand. "I was wondering when I would meet you. Albus has mentioned you before in his letters."
Al's ears went slightly red and Scorp laughed silently.
"Where's your mum, Scorpius?" she asked. "It's probably been years since I-,"
"Ginny!" Mrs. Malfoy exclaimed as she rushed over. "Hi!"
"Hi!" called out an ecstatic Ginny Potter. "Hi!"
The two women hugged each other and began talking to each other animatedly, updating the two on their entire lives since they last saw each other. Because of this, Albus and Scorp sat with James on their luggage as the platform emptied.
"It's bloody amazing how women can do that," Albus said after twenty or so minutes.
James playfully slapped him on the back of the head, laughing.
"So, Malfoy," he started. "Coming over for New Years as planned?"
"I still have to ask," Scorp replied. "My father-,"
"He'll say yes, don't worry," James assured. "I suppose he's not here for the same reason Dad's not."
"Work," the trio of boys said together.
After a long conversation between the two mothers, they walked over to where their children sat.
"Right, well we'd best be off Scorp, now shouldn't we?" Mrs. Malfoy alleged, looking at her son. "It was lovely seeing you again, Ginny."
"And you, Astoria," Mrs. Potter replied. "We should get together sometime over the holidays."
"Oh, that'd be wonderful," Mrs. Malfoy agreed. "I could finally see Hermione again. And it would be excellent to be reacquainted with Harry and Ronald."
"Well, that sounds better than living with them," Mrs. Potter joked. "Come on, boys."
Scorpius said his goodbyes to James and Albus before following in his mother's wake, glancing back at Mrs. Potter, who winked.
The two walked through the streets of London for a while as night began to fall. Just then, Scorpius thought he saw a familiar figure walking on the other street, a long black coat wrapped around him.
"Jacob!" he tried to call out. But the older boy did not seem to hear him.
Instead, he ducked into another alley, and out of sight.
"Oh, he probably didn't hear you over this blasted wind," Mrs. Malfoy assured. "You'll see him at Hogwarts, I expect. Is he a friend of yours?"
"Yeah, kind of a mentor in how to be a Gryffindor," laughed Scorp.
Astoria laughed too, but only briefly. Then they walked in silence for a minute before she began speaking again, this time sounding grimmer.
"You know, Scorpius," she said. "Your father isn't as angry as he may seem."
"Really?" Scorp started. "Then how come he came to yell at me in the middle of Hogsmeade?"
He had never been afraid of speaking to his mother like this, but to his father, he was terrified.
Astoria bowed her head before replying
"He has had a hard time after the war," she admitted. "So many people consider blood on his hands. But few know that when Harry Potter was pretending to be dead in front of the Dark Lord, the wand he had stolen from your father was given back to its original owner."
They walked further.
"But when Harry Potter was running about as the battle began again, your father tossed him the wand he had desperately wanted back. If he hadn't done that," she looked down at her son. "-then who knows how Harry Potter could've defeated Voldemort?"
Scorpius thought about this for a moment.
"So, dad's kind of a hero, then?" he questioned.
"Well, why else would Mr. Potter have hired him on his auror team all those years ago?" she asked. "I think that just because of that one, swift motion of help in the battle caused Harry Potter to forgive his least favorite Slytherin student for all the years of their hatred."
They stopped in front of a wall corner at the end of the street, in between two Muggle shops. However, they could see that it was really the entrance to an old, dingy, and yet very reliable and famous inn.
THE LEAKY CAULDRON, it read.
Astoria Malfoy opened the door, allowing Scorpius to step inside before following. There were quite a few wizards and witches inside, all of whom were drinking and eating dinners. As they walked up to the bar, the man behind the counter smiled at them.
"Ah, hello there, Mrs. Malfoy," he greeted, warmly. "Care for a drink?"
"Just a fire whiskey for me and a hot chocolate for Scorpius," she ordered, smiling gratefully.
"Just a sec," the man said, walking into the kitchen.
Some other people greeted Astoria as they walked by, wishing her a happy Christmas. Unlike her husband, and apparently her son as well, Astoria Malfoy was well-liked in the world of wizards.
The bar man came back out of the kitchen and handed Astoria a mug of hot chocolate and a class of fire whiskey.
"There you are, Miss," he finished.
She and Scorpius appreciatively drank their warm drinks, sitting at a small table near the fire.
"Your father will be home by now," she muttered, looking at the clock. "We'd best finish up soon."
Scorpius nodded.
"So," Astoria began after another minute's silence. "Are there any girls you're interested in at Hogwarts?"
He did not respond for a moment before saying "Erm, not really."
"Erm, not really?" Astoria repeated, making her son smile. "Am I to take it that you don't have feelings for anyone at school or that you do and don't want to tell me?"
Scorpius smirked.
"A little of both," he responded.
"Oh, well that response makes less sense than the one you made and the one I thought you would make," she said, before setting her drink down. "Now, I've already paid for these, so let's head home if you're finished."
Scorp nodded and downed the last little bit of the chocolate liquid before following his mother to the public fire place where people were coming and going via flu powder.
Taking a handful out of a pouch in her pocket, Astoria tossed it into the fire place, causing the orange and red flames to burst green and white.
"Ah, the Slytherin colors," she said. "Well, on you go, my son, before it wears off."
Scorpius obeyed, stepping into the flames and saying "Malfoy Manner!" very clearly. After that, he felt himself get pulled in, twisting and turning faster than he liked. It was not his favorite means of travel.
After a short moment of this, he felt himself stumble onto the carpet of a dark, old house, larger than most buildings he had been inside. This was not including Hogwarts, of course.
It was very dark indeed and Scorpius wondered why his father hadn't turned on any of the lights.
"Dad?" he called. "I'm home!"
Just then, his mother came spinning out of the fire, looking very entertained.
"Wee!" she giggled after regaining her balance. "I love flu powder."
Then, she looked about the house.
"Oh, that's odd," she murmured. "Why on earth hasn't your father lit any of the lights?"
She waved her wand and silently made them all flicker to life.
"There, that's better," she said before walking through the house, Scorpius right behind her.
"Draco?" she called. "Dear, are you home?"
They went to sit in the living room, the main one at least, before Astoria collapsed onto the black sofa.
"Oh, I miss our old house," she admitted. "It was nice and beautiful as well, but not the size of a small palace. It's a living hell to clean this place."
"Where's Dad?" Scorp wondered aloud.
"Oh, he's probably still at work, dear," she suggested. "He's had a very important case that he's been working on with Mr. Potter for months at the Minister's request. I expect they're dealing with that right now."